Katamari Damacy (future rare title?)

[Oobgarm]

I know that this game was brought up a few times in other threads, recently in TheRedEye's EB thread and my own thread from E3 back in May. Even our long-winded( ;) ) friend EdOscuro mentioned it a while back. Might even have the possibility of being a Rez-like title; i.e. fun but hard to find.

This game is out next Wednesday. Who's getting it? I'd say that there's no excuse not to get it, especially since it's only $20. It's been getting great reviews, both print and online.

http://gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/918766.asp?q=kata

[maxlords]

I'd like to get it...and it'll probably be hard to find. I can't imagine it selling well.

[FantasiaWHT]

Anything with a japanese title tends not to sell well lol.

Anybody know what it means?

I have mine preordered, because I doubt our store would get any otherwise.

[davidleeroth]

I sure am. I was under the impression it woul be Jap only and considered importing it but now I'm really gonna get since it's way cheaper and in English. Yay!

[Aussie2B]

Japanese fruitiness = GOOD.

I'd like to get it, but not anytime soon. Still no US PS2 for me. Hopefully it won't get rare right away, which I think is unlikely anyway because it's not going to create the type of demand to created high prices until probably after the PS2 is dead (if ever, that is).

[delafro]

I've played it.... it's great fun and wacky too. I'd say don't worry about rarity, just pick it up b/c it's fun. I could see this as a sleeper game that picks up in interest as the years go by though.

[Crush Crawfish]

My copy's already reserved! Comes out the 22nd, same day as Mega Man X command mission, a game that I''ve been dying to play. That's gonna be an awesome day!

[Lemmy Kilmister]

My copy's already reserved! Comes out the 22nd, same day as Mega Man X command mission, a game that I''ve been dying to play. That's gonna be an awesome day!

Indeed it will be. :D

About the future rarity of thie game. I don't know. Lets not forget most people thought disgaea was going to be rare also.

[PapaStu]

It'll be mine, and at best its going to be a sleeper like Guitaroo Man. A title that is seen as pure kick ass, yet there just arnt alot of copies floating around.

I think that Sony has gone and dropped its licensing fees again, so that more comanies are now going to be willing to release these quirky games. Just look at the new GunGrave:OverDose, released by Mastiff for 15 bucks. Hopefully the production companies are going to now take the risk and bring some of the better quirky stuff over, just do a quick localization and ship the sucker.


About the future rarity of thie game. I don't know. Lets not forget most people thought disgaea was going to be rare also.
And Disgaea is still rare. No one can keep it in stock even after 2 reprints. Its a game that will hold its value, unless it drops to a GH title. So compare it to another game by the same development team and know it will be just as rare asnd desirable as La Puccelle Tactics is, sound better?

[Drammy]

Anybody know what it means?
The EGM for November coins it as "the soul of the blob".

And yes, it looks very interesting and all the more tempting at the $20 price point.

-Drammy

[Ed Oscuro]

Definitely a game to buy - maybe two copies of it!

[Jive3D]

Yeah this has been on my want list for a while. I want to make a ball of nothing but cows :D

[pookninja]

im gonna go to gamecrazy and preorder it this wekend.i seen it in a magazine i got in the mail this week.looks cool.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

[quote="PapaStu"]And Disgaea is still rare. No one can keep it in stock even after 2 reprints. Its a game that will hold its value, unless it drops to a GH title. So compare it to another game by the same development team and know it will be just as rare asnd desirable as La Puccelle Tactics is, [/b]sound better[b][quote]

I guess, all i was trying to say was that disgaea was not the niche game everyone thought it would be. Maybe it's true that it's hard to find (i personally see it all the time), but it can be had cheap at most stores now. Grant if you can find a copy.

[PapaStu]

And Disgaea is still rare. No one can keep it in stock even after 2 reprints. Its a game that will hold its value, unless it drops to a GH title. So compare it to another game by the same development team and know it will be just as rare asnd desirable as La Puccelle Tactics is, sound better

I guess, all i was trying to say was that disgaea was not the niche game everyone thought it would be. Maybe it's true that it's hard to find (i personally see it all the time), but it can be had cheap at most stores now. Grant if you can find a copy.

True, No it was one of those niche games like FF: Tactics that when people actually played they realised that it was incredibly good. Looking at that one, it held a huge value until Square GH'd the game. It is around some (Disgaea) but it still borders on that hard to find/sells for close to retail used kinda thing. [back to topic]

If they keep the release low, this will just build a solid value as the PS2 comes to an end.

[Fuyukaze]

I'll buy that for a dollar! Or Twenty as thats the SGR.

Disgaea a "rare" game? Local gamecrazy has had 7 of the same 8 copies sense it came out. I bought the one copy that sold. Still at the 50$ price though. Its somewhat surprising how everyone keeps saying its a hard to find game.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I'm going to pre-order it along with DDR Extreme that comes out the same day. When I first heard about it, the FIRST thing that came to my mind was 'Wow, this game is going to be sweet, and get rare VERY quickly'. I think I'm going to preorder them tomorrow.

[Cmosfm]

Well, just got mine, sadley I'm at work and dying to get off and play. The packaging is really nice, I love its simplicity.

I noticed the top sticker said "Katamari Damashi" instead of "Damacy", that's odd, but oh well, not the first time it's happened.

Anyone else get it today? if so, what's your impression?

[Oobgarm]

I noticed the top sticker said "Katamari Damashi" instead of "Damacy", that's odd, but oh well, not the first time it's happened.

That's what it was called in Japan. I have no freaking clue why they bastardized the name for US consumption.

I shall contribute to this thread with gameplay impressions later this evening.

[slip81]

I think I'm going to pick it up today, it either that or X-Men Legends. And since I doubt Legends will be hard to find later on it will most likely be Damasy.

[brandver3]

Too many games.

I have to get this, I got Monster Hunter yesterday. Burnout3.

Every year I forget how hard it is getting through the holiday flood while being broke.

Thought for $20, I am defianatly going to get this one.

[josekortez]

I swapped my Halo 2 pre-order to Katamari yesterday, and I picked it up today. I wasn't planning on buying Halo 2 anyway.

[sharc]

man. the game/import store i checked out today hadn't even heard of this coming out in america. those of you who have it already, where'd you pick up your copy? big chain like eb games?

-sharc

[delafro]

I preordered mine at EB, going to pick it up tonight. Oh yeah!

[FantasiaWHT]

I preordered mine at EB, going to pick it up tonight. Oh yeah!

Ditto, but it was supposed to be here yesterday *glares at his EB computers*

[Jive3D]

It's available in shady areas of the internet.

[poe]

Today is my day off, so I got mine this morning and have already played for a couple hours (thankfully managed to finish up Star Ocean before this got here). Totally great. Anybody on the fence on this one just go buy it now. After the first time you push a six-foot wide ball of street signs down a hill and suck up a little girl at the bottom, you'll wonder how you ever went without this game.

[katchoo]

Today is my day off, so I got mine this morning and have already played for a couple hours (thankfully managed to finish up Star Ocean before this got here). Totally great. Anybody on the fence on this one just go buy it now. After the first time you push a six-foot wide ball of street signs down a hill and suck up a little girl at the bottom, you'll wonder how you ever went without this game.


guuuh....i want this game more than ever now!

:eek 2:

[Querjek]

I bit the bullet and ordered this game from EB's website today. Let's hope it arrives soon :)

[Habeeb Hamusta]

Yeah it looks like loads of fun. :D

[max 330 mega]

im just hoping that the stores around me will get in a few copies so i can grab one.

[PDorr3]

this title came from nowhere! When I saw it was $20 i quickly decided i need it, but i need monster hunter first.

[Ro7co]

I pre-ordered from gamestop and it was 17.99 +1.99 shipping, not sure if it is still that price, and it's media mail shipping, I'm still waiting for it... :hmm:

[delafro]

FYI, my local EB said they got 3 copies of the game. Don't know about you, but that sounds fairly rare to me.

[Griking]

I'm sorry for adding another "Gamestop and EBWorld sucks" type of post but I really have to get this off my chest.

Every time I walk into one of these stores they're basically trying to force pre-orders down my throat. Well twice now in the past month I've tried to pre-order a game and was told that the game didn't have a pre-order sku. The games were A Dog's Life and Katamari Damacy.

Sure I know that these aren't going to be huge selling games and store's probably won't get very many copies, but isn't this the entire purpose of taking pre-orders in the first place, so we can guarantee a copy of a game that they may not have many of in stock. Oh, but there's no problem reserving Madden '94 or GTA, games that you really don'y have to pre-order in the first place because every store ends up having hundreds of copies on hand.

The game was released yesterday and not one of the EBworlds or Gamestops in my area had it in yet as of this evening.

I guess I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and order it online.

/bitch off

[FantasiaWHT]

/bitch on

Wow, a game that nobody really expected to come out in the US wasn't on the preorder computer months ago? Oh my god the horror! It's been on at least a month, why didn't you just preorder it within the last month? If you had done it even as late as 3 or 4 days ago, they would have gotten a copy in.

/bitch off

Yeah, the preorder push sucks, but can you blame us? One of the easiest ways to guarantee traffic, and a decent chunk of our store rating is based on new release pickup, which is driven in a large part by presells. Salespeople who just randomyl throw out "hey, do you want to preorder this game like everyone else?" are extremely annoying (like my boss). I pick and choose. If the guy picks up a horror title I'll mention Silent Hill 4. Anybody that buys GTA3 or GTA:VC gets a question on San Andreas. If I'm REALLY desperate (way off a weekend goal, for example) if someone is buying one thing I'll tack on a "Just this today? Anything you were interested in preordering?" onto the end of a sale, but if they say no I let it go. I do just as many presells as my boss does and I don't piss everyone off lol.

Ok review mode on :) Did a little play-by-play call in my livejournal if you want to check it out-

http://www.livejournal.com/users/fantasiawht/2667.html

[Griking]

/bitch on

Wow, a game that nobody really expected to come out in the US wasn't on the preorder computer months ago? Oh my god the horror! It's been on at least a month, why didn't you just preorder it within the last month? If you had done it even as late as 3 or 4 days ago, they would have gotten a copy in.

I wish this was the case. I tried pre-ordering A Dog's Life @ EBWorld a week before it was released and was told that they didn't have a sku for it. I tried pre-ordering Katamari Damacy just last week @ my local Gamestop and was told the there was no pre-order sku for it as well. I usually hear about these odd ball games for the first time on this forum and I usually reserve a copy of it right away its reasonably priced. I beginning to get the feeling they they really don't care about taking my pre-orders unless its for a $50 game.

[Dahne]

I swapped my Halo 2 pre-order to Katamari yesterday, and I picked it up today. I wasn't planning on buying Halo 2 anyway.

Bwah ha ha ROFL

You, my friend, officialy kick ass.

I went down to the local EB Games at the mall here, since I've yet to find any non-chain stores in the San Francisco State area. After looking around and not seeing it anywhere, I went up to the counter and asked when they would be getting it in. The guy reached into the glass case behind the counter, and pulled out a copy that had been stacked horizontally, with only the spine showing, essentially hidden in the corner.

I have no idea why. You'd think they'd at least put it on the shelves.

[Red Shadow]

Ah, great. My first post ends up being a double post and get locked. I feel sooooo stupid. Think I'll just stick to replying to other topics so I don't look foolish in the future.

Yeah, Katamari is really cool. I played through the first couple levels and it's like nothing I've played before. The EB I work at only got three, one for me, one for a customer who had it on order, and one that was bought within 10 minutes of going out on the shelf. Only two other people asked about it that day, but I had a few discussions about it with people and because of the GMR spot people seem to at least know it's "that wacky game with the sticky balls".

So yeah. Good game, total niche title. That's enough out of me.

[videogameking26]

I hope to pick it up soon...looks very interesting

[Oobgarm]

Got a little bit of playtime in on this one last night. The intro was no doubt the strangest thing I've seen in a long time.

Gameplay is smooth and intuitive. Excellent use of the analog sticks. It's not too hard at the beginning, yet it's not too easy.

This is the kind of game that really shows how important gameplay is. I could care less about the story, etc. The gameplay is what counts and this game's got it.

Highly recommended.

[FantasiaWHT]

I wish this was the case. I tried pre-ordering A Dog's Life @ EBWorld a week before it was released and was told that they didn't have a sku for it. I tried pre-ordering Katamari Damacy just last week @ my local Gamestop and was told the there was no pre-order sku for it as well. I usually hear about these odd ball games for the first time on this forum and I usually reserve a copy of it right away its reasonably priced. I beginning to get the feeling they they really don't care about taking my pre-orders unless its for a $50 game.

I can't speak for Gamestop of course, but EVERY SINGLE GAME that we actually have ANY sku for you can preorder. If it isn't in the computer, we aren't getting it, or somebody in corporate made a goofup. There is no difference between a preorder sku and the normal sku, they are identical, and can be found in at least 4 different ways that I know of.

Is Dog's Life out yet or not? If it is, we never got it, so never would have had it in our preorder menu.

Sorry about the bitchiness last night. Was in a grouchy mood- baby is being weaned of swaddling at night so he tends to wake up 2 or 3 times =/

[Griking]

Is Dog's Life out yet or not? If it is, we never got it, so never would have had it in our preorder menu.

A Dog's Life was released a few weeks ago. Maybe EBWorld decided to not carry the game (I ended up getting mine @ Best Buy) which is why I wasn't able to pre-order it from them.


Sorry about the bitchiness last night. Was in a grouchy mood- baby is being weaned of swaddling at night so he tends to wake up 2 or 3 times =/

Not a problem at all. Believe me, I have absolutely no right to criticize someone else about bitching. :D

[Jive3D]

"mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm mm"

"la la la la la la la la KA-TA-MA-RI-DA-MAN-CI!"

I played it this morning before work - It's a hell of a lot of fun. However, I dont think that my girlfriend appreciated my wakig her up by blasting the stereo and singing the theme song and yelling "Look, honey! The Ducks are singing too!"

Yeah, she kinda ignored me for the rest of the morning.

:D

[Cmosfm]

Ok, popped mine in yesterday, still on the line whether if it was actually going to be fun or not. Heck, how much fun can pushing a ball be? I kept telling myself it just CAN'T be THAT MUCH fun.

Then by round 2 I was laughing my ass off at how much FUN I WAS HAVING!

The amazing soundtrack, the GROWTH, man....when you start a level and are running from cats....then within 5 minutes you are PICKING THE CATS UP! O_O

I gotta work today, but if I didn't, I would officially be Katamari Damacy day....k-D-Day I would call it....but that will be Sunday instead.

BEST 20.00 I ever spent! If you are not playing this because it's too "silly" for you or you feel that it's not going to be fun, you are a fool. This is one of my favorite PS2 games thus far.

Thank you Namco!

[qbertandernie]

anyone check out their 'collection'? i found the descriptions wildly amusing...allow me to paraphrase about peaches 'this butt shaped fruit is good to eat, but it tastes better than butt'...the cheese wheel description(that looked strangely like a pacman) ended with 'that shape looks familiar'..

i liked the game, others visiting and playing head to head did not...but theyre sports game people, so go figure

[den68]

I picked this up about an hour ago on my lunch break. based on the comments I've just read I'm guessing I'll be playing it most of the night.

[Crush Crawfish]

I''m gonna go pick this up in a few minutes. I had no problems reserving it at my gamestop. This is also the last new game I'm gonna buy for awhile....I need to clear out my backlog, not to mention make some money!

[slip81]

I picked KD up yesterday along with X-Men Legends. So far I haven't touched Legeds except to play it co-op with my GF for a while. The game rules, and I love the soundtrack. I also can't get over the opening sequence, definately the best opening I've seen in a long while. Whoever thought playing with big balls could be so fun? LOL

As far as rarity goes I doubt it will be that popular. The EB where I got mine got three in yesterday, and now they are all gone. Me and my friend each bought one, and the clerk said he was picking up the last one.

[Jive3D]

I picked up my copy today at EB in Rocafeller Center - it was their only copy - I figured no one around in this immediate area would be interested in it.

I cant wait to get home and watch the intro again (and sing along of course, very loudly I might add) :)

[captain nintendo]

I picked one up today after work after reading this thread. Also picked up Fable..... Lots of gaming to catch up on now :)
(with hundreds more still waiting to be played)

[Jive3D]

yeah dude... Katamari, Megaman X Command Mission, Shin Megami Tensei III, Shenmue II, Silent HIll 4 -- lot to get done!

I got my first CAT in my Katamari today. weee.

[captain nintendo]

I got my first CAT in my Katamari today. weee.


Yeah , Megaman command was on my list of things to get , but I want to do some hunting this weekend too.

And I know I cant get MM Command in a few weeks ;)

(how does MM C play by the way? )

[Jive3D]

I'll PM you about it rather than turning this into the MM CM thread ^_^.

Viva La Katamari!

I think I might plug the PS2 sound into my computer and record the Katamari theme song and throw it into a mix. I can hear it now.

"ka ka ka ka ka katamari da da da da damancy..."

[FantasiaWHT]

Yeah getting that cat was awesome.

Rolling over your first human is an unforgetable experience, tho! Watching her little legs kicking and kicking as you roll and roll.... hehe!!!

I love the soundtrack, Sinatra is great!

[Mr.FoodMonster]

Holy hell, this game freaking RULES. I played it for only 1 1/2 hours, but I did get my first cat and human. (I played a few of the levels a few times, to familiarize and get a better size) I think we should do a simple challenge, and that being, what is the BIGGEST you can become on the first level? I think I got mine up to 16 cm, but I would have to double check for sure.

[Crush Crawfish]

Good god does katamari damacy rule. I can't remember the last time I had this much pure fun with a game. BTW, anyone who hasn't picked up MMX command mission needs to go buy it. It rules like crazy. Between that and KD, I'm completely dead to the world for a while. :D

[Jive3D]

The Song in the intro to KD sounds very similar to the song in the "block town" level of Pac-Mania. Considering that they are both made by Namco, it could easily be the same composer, even though Pac-Mania came out in the arcades almost 15 years ago - give them a listen, it's really similar structure.

[Overbite]

this game is so cool :)

i love it when i start the level picking up small things like fruit and stuff and then i start picking up cars and trees.

a lot of the reviews said the graphics were really really bad (gameinformer) but they WORK! you can pick up everything you see and you can see pretty far, the levels are big, and it scales very well with no slowdown.

also the music is rad.

Shake it up! ah-Punch it up!

[classicb]

I picked this up today and it rocks. Thanks DPers. I guess this is another reason why I love the DP boards. Not only do I get to find out about great games that I missed growing up I get great info on current games I might miss out on. On another note I had some friends over today who are more "casual gamers" and they totally loved it. I wouldn't be suprised if they went out and got it tomorrow with that $20 price tag. The game play is addictive and the music ads a lot.

Between this and Gradius V I'm having more gaming fun than I've had in awhile. It's so refreshing to play game like this.

[qbertandernie]

anyone beat 693 m for the moon(last level)?

this game rocks...now i have to look around for all of the 'cousins'...bastards...

[Nesmaster]

heh, the game sounds interesting. i might pick it up sometime, i like odd little games :D

[Cmosfm]

anyone beat 693 m for the moon(last level)?

this game rocks...now i have to look around for all of the 'cousins'...bastards...

I got 670. :(

Man, when I first stepped into that level I almost FREAKED when the king told me he wanted my measly 50 CM ball to be a 300 M ball in 25 minutes! Got it first try!

[Mayhem]

Glad to see people are enjoying this :)

Let's hope it gets some good sales in the US...

[D_N_G]

i got 703 m on the moon

[bluberry]

I just got around to playing it for an extended period of time last night, I love it. The endless mode stages are by far the best ones, though. The time limits get bothersome. Still, it rules.

[qbertandernie]

after my post i reached 770m!!!

the king of all cosmos was impressed...

[Aussie2B]

This topic is really tempting me... :P I've been spending too much lately, but it sounds so cool that I almost want to borrow my brother-in-law's PS2 for a little while just so I can buy Katamari Damashi and play it.

[racecar]

rare or not ..this is definitly one of those great fun games for everybody....i spend 4+ hr on it already and i only picked up today...

[Oobgarm]

I haven't been playing a lot, so I'm only on the 4th level or something like that. But damn you should have seen the look of glee on my face when I picked up my first CAT, then my first HUMAN BEING.

Games like this exemplify why I love games so much. It's fun, easy to jump into, and provides excellent replay value. Everybody needs to own this game, hardcore or not.

[FantasiaWHT]

Hey when can you get to the endless play modes? Everything I've done so far is timed.

[Cmosfm]

Hey when can you get to the endless play modes? Everything I've done so far is timed.

This is what I was curious about, I want to freely be able to suck up the world now that I've beat the game!

I did the moon level before the North Star level, beat it last night and got EXACTLY 10 M ON MY FIRST TRY! Anyone else do this? I don't think so, I'm pretty sure it was luck.

Now, anyone have ANY idea where to get the soundtrack? I'd gladly pay for it, or heck, download it if I can't find it anywhere reasonably priced to buy.

[qbertandernie]

i got exactly 10m, but it took 2 tries... :embarrassed:

[Cmosfm]

Hey guys....found the soundtrack. ;)

http://forums.filenotfound.org/KATAMARIDAMACY/

Haven't burned any to a CD yet so im not sure on the quality, but seems to be pretty good. Enjoy!

[bluberry]

From: Game "our webmaster sucks" FAQs

Unlockable How to Unlock
Eternal 1 Build up the ball past 1m30cm before the time runs out in Make a Star 4.
Eternal 2 Build up the ball past 25m before the time runs out in Make a Star 8.
Eternal 3 Build up the ball past 800m before the time runs out in Make the Moon.

As for the soundtrack, do a google search for "Katamari Damacy OST". I think cdjapan.co.jp have it in stock.

Edit: and what Cmos posted would work too. :D